Homeschool Dad Blog

A native of the State, it has been odd to me that in a state where it is illegal to pump your own gas and server eggs sunny side up in restuarants, homeschooling was left pretty much alone.Once in a while, though, some legislator gets the idea that parents being too invovled in their kids schooling is a bad thing.

HSLDA is calling for action now to defeat Assembly Bill 3123 which, on its own, would turn New Jersey from one of the most Homeschool-friendly states to onw of the most restricted:

For decades, homeschooling in New Jersey has thrived, producing astonishingly good results at no taxpayer expense even while public schools serve up one expensive disappointment after another. There is no justification to cripple the most successful form of education in New Jersey with increased regulation. Studies show that children do no better in states with heavy regulatory burdens.

The organizations of the homeschool task force are united in opposing this bill, A. 3123, and are developing a unified response. No benefit, great or small, can possibly compensate for the loss of freedom. The task force opposes this bill in every detail. There is no compromise position. The bill must be defeated.

A. 3123 would do the following:

1. Require an annual notarized letter of intent to register every homeschooled child.

2. Require parents to list objectives in every mandatory subject.

3. Require evidence of immunization.

4. Require proof that the children have received all medical services the law requires.

5. Require a certification that adults in the home have not committed certain crimes.

6. Require 180 days of instruction.

7. Empower the Commissioner of Education to decide what subjects are mandatory.

8. Empower the Commissioner of Education to determine course content “guidelines” starting in kindergarten.

9. Require that parents keep the following records and submit them annually to the school district, and also as often as the superintendent requests, if he has “reason to believe” the student is not getting “an appropriate education”:

* list of reading materials
* writing samples
* worksheets
* workbooks
* creative materials
* standardized testing in grades 3, 5 and 8 (with parents being prohibited from administering the test)
* an annual evaluation by a person other than the parent, after an interview and review of materials. The evaluator must certify the student is receiving an “appropriate education.” The evaluator must be a: (a) licensed psychologist, or (b) certified school psychologist, or (c) New Jersey public or private school teacher, or (d) New Jersey public or private school administrator.

10. Empower the superintendent to ask the school board to terminate homeschooling if he believes the records (above) show the homeschool program is “unsatisfactory in providing an adequate education.”

11. “Adequate education” is not defined, so the superintendent and school board have wide latitude to decide what they think it means.

This bill would also give homeschooled students access to public school sports. However, there is no government benefit that homeschoolers want so badly that they would sacrifice their freedoms to procure it.
A. 3123 would turn New Jersey into one of the worst homeschool states in the country. The bill is very similar to Pennsylvania’s homeschool law, which is generally recognized as the second worst in the nation, surpassed only by New York’s. A. 3123, however, includes features that make it even worse than Pennsylvania’s.

In an Op-Ed Piece in the Washington Times, Home School Legal Defense President J. Michael Smith offered comments on a survey conducted by Ellison Research.

According to the study, homeschooling is seen as a better quality option for education, scoring 3.14 out of 5, compared to the 3 scored by public schools. HSLDA is interpreting that as an increased recognition of homeschooling as a quality education option - a reputation that is starting to exceed that of public schools.

However, when asked “Which is most likely to prepare students for life after graduation?” respondents favored the public schools: 42% to 6%.

I have to agree with HSLDA - this doesn’t make sense. The better education prepares one less for real life? Isn’t the advice given to every social outcast during high school that real life isn’t like high school?

I’ll probably revisit this often, but there is a wonderful article written on the many factors of the high school social system that do not mirror real life. It addresses how issues like bullies, upperclassmen, and even how the administration classifies your are not only unheard of in real life, but also illegal. For instance, in high school you are assigned to a school based on your age, zip code, and in crowded districts even by the alphabetization of your last name. If a company were to use such factors in hiring, it would result in either a poorly staffed organization or massive age discrimination suits.

In my own experience, I had one year of public high school in the middle of 3 years of home educated high school study. I can see why freshmen college students struggle so much during the first year - skills like time management have to be learned, and often habits learned in the public school system have to be broken.

If there is one period where students should NOT be put into a public education system, it is high school. Too much dependence is taught on teachers and hierarchy. A student goes from spending 30 hours a week in the high school classroom to 12-15 hours of class time in college - and suddenly no one is telling them how to meet deadlines or structure their time.

While homeschooling methods vary, virtually all of them rely on the student taking more responsibility for their time than the average public school student.

Of course, don’t quote me. Ask the admissions officers at colleges. Homeschoolers are becoming more sought after by universities.

Gee, I wonder why.

Here’s an older tidbit of info that I’ve not heard much about lately.

MIT and other universities are making some of their courses available online, for free. Some courses are merely lecture notes, others are full audio and or video presentations of each class.

These are great for furthering your own education, or preparing your children for college by having them “sit in” on a few classes, or for integrating into your curriculum.

Here’s the MIT OpenCourseWare Home Page

In trying to maintain a schedule for your homeschool, it’s easy to over-emphasize the traditional academics - and do a disservice to you and your children in the process.

My first year of homeschooling (4th Grade) my parents tried Seton Home Study’s curriculum. We only used it one year. It’s a great curriculum (in fact, we use some of the books for our kids) but there is so much scripted the course load can be smothering, particularly if you are intending to take advantage of  the flexibility homeschooling offers it can get in the way.

In fact, it is almost crucial that when making out your homeschooling schedule you include some time for play. It doesn’t have to be educational, or lesson oriented, just play time. Homeschooling parents know that a “typical” school day can be anywhere from a few hours to a 10 hour marathon depending on factors such as distractions, errands, housework, stubbornness, daydreaming, corrections, or those particularly difficult lessons to learn. Scheduling some time for play each day preserves that time despite the fact the school day might go until after dinner.

It seems that with the plethora of entertainment available to children these days there is little room for creative play - video games are, like movies and TV, incarnations of a designer’s imagination and they leave little for the player. And with stores like Wal-mart scaling back their toy sections to enhance their video game and electronics section it seems creative play is even more an endangered activity.

If it’s a nice day, get the kids outside. You never know when the next week-long wet-and-muddy spell will induce you all with cabin fever. Besides, observations made by your children can lead to good questions and inquisitive thinking. After all, Philo Farnsworth invented the television at age 15 while plowing his family’s field. Not exactly playing, but proof that you never know when nature will inspire innovative thinking.

On indoor days, try a free-form craft time. Just give the kids scrap paper, crayons, scissors, clue, popsicle sticks (or whatever you are willing to clean up afterward) and let them do whatever they want. If they are paralyzed with uncertainty of what to make or do, you might want to do this more often.

Board games - again not just educational ones - or puzzles are more structured play options. Even simple classic games can encourage thinking ahead, organizational skills, and basic math concepts.

Learning will come with the play - and not just textbook lessons, but important life lessons.

Thanks to the All About Parenting Blog Carnival for the inspiration for this post.